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Style

JAFSCD generally follows the style conventions outlined by the American Phsychological Association (APA). An excellent guide to the APA format has been developed by Roger Hiemstra (2010). Writing articles for professional journals: An APA primer.

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Language

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). An author whose native language is not English is advised to have his or her manuscript checked by an English-speaking colleague or to use a translation service prior to submission. We offer a Consulting Editor Program (CEP) in which we will identify an experienced editor-for-hire who can work with manuscripts that have been provisionally accepted.

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Types of Manuscripts with Word Counts

Editorials (up to 500 words; not peer reviewed)

Editorials provide commentary by the publisher, members of the Editorial Committee (advisors and reviewers), and others related to the Journal's mission as well as the general interest to our readers. Unsolicited editorials will be considered for publication. Acceptance will reside with the publisher and managing editor.

Letters to the Publisher (up to 500 words; not peer reviewed)

Letters to the Publisher address matters of general interest to the readership. Letters are reviewed by the publisher and managing editor and are subject to editing and possible abridgment. Letters to the Publisher should not include original, unpublished data.

Research Articles (up to 8,500 words; peer reviewed)

Research articles present important new research results including the entire contents of a research project. Quantitative studies include statistical analysis of survey or secondary data. Qualitative studies include case studies, focus groups, or interviews, and the like. Research articles generally include an abstract, an introduction, methods and results sections, a discussion, and relevant citations. Authors of research articles are required to adhear to our policy of accessible scholarship.

Case Studies (up to 5,000 words; peer reviewed)

A case study is a report of a single case (generally deemed 'interesting' or 'unusual'). These studies usually are generated by the author’s actual experience or objective observations. This is a popular form of manuscript among practitioners. It is critical that the case study be objective and not promotional. The case should feature a new program approach, best practice, or organizational structure. It should present sufficient references to previous studies of the issue the case is focused on to embed (provide context) for this new case study to build on.

Reflective Essays (up to 5,000 words; peer reviewed)

A reflective essay is a critical reflection on one’s work or the work of one’s organization related to a specific issue or strategy. It is similar to a case study but it is a more personal slant and subjectivity. This is material which might have a more popular journalistic style but also has much deeper substance than a trade journal article. These could take the form of a case study, a project post-mortem analysis (why a project failed), a policy commentary, a position paper on a best practice, or even a proposal for a new strategy, technique, or approach.

Review Articles (up to 8,500 words; peer reviewed)

Review articles do not cover original research but rather accumulate the results of many different articles on a particular topic into a coherent narrative about the state of the art in the emerging field food systems and agricultural development. Review articles provide information about the topic and also provide journal references to the original research.

Research Briefs (up to 2,500 words; peer reviewed)

A research brief is generally an update of ongoing research of national or international significance. It is typically a follow-up to a research paper already submitted, but may also be a paper providing preliminary findings of a new study. Research briefs may be fast-tracked for immediate publication because they are considered urgent.

Policy Briefs (up to 2,500 words; peer reviewed)

A policy brief is a thorough analysis of a proposed, new, or existing government or organizational policy which focuses on the background of a policy issue, the details of the policy, and its real or predicted impacts on the issue. Like research briefs, policy briefs may be fast-tracked for immediate publication because they are considered urgent.

Conference Proceeding and/or Abstracts (up to 8,500 words; not peer reviewed)

Proceedings provide short summaries of in-progress or completed primary studies that are presented at conferences, but are not yet fully peer-reviewed for publication as complete articles. Conference proceeding and/or abstracts thus provide an 'early picture' of current research that is likely to appear later in one or more of the primary article forms listed above. Because selection processes are highly variable, the quality of conference proceeding and/or abstracts vary widely.

Commentaries (up to 1,000 words; rebutted; not peer reviewed)

Commentaries are reactions or viewpoints based on papers of unusual interest published in the journal. They should describe the most important conclusions of the paper they are commenting on; place the paper into context with the current state-of-the-art; highlight controversial issues; when relevant, denote strengths and weaknesses of the paper; and review questions that remain to be addressed. If a commentary is found acceptable, a copy will be sent to the author of the original article, if applicable; that author will have an opportunity to provide a rebuttal with new material that will be considered for publication with the letter.

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Article Preparation

Articles should be submitted as Microsoft Office Word files (Word 2003 and Word 2007 are acceptable, as well as RTF). Do not submit an article as an Adobe Acrobat file (PDF). A Word template, including all Journal paragraph styles and our preferred manuscript ordering, is available here, although you are not required to use it.

Use the following formatting guidelines:

• 8.5" x 11" page size
• 1" margins on all sides
• 12 point Times Roman
• Double-spaced

The text should be in single-column format and in as simple a layout as possible. Most formatting will be removed and replaced as we process the article. Do not use your word processor’s options to justify text or to hyphenate words. You may, however, use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. We recommend using the spell checker prior to submission as well.

Do not place any figures into the text file; instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text. See the sections below on Tables and Figures for acceptable format and submission requirements.

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Article Structure

Below is a common format for applied research papers. Most types of manuscripts accepted by JAFSCD will follow a variation of this format. All manuscripts are expected to include an abstract and keywords. All major words of headings and subheadings should be capitalized, excluding articles and short prepositions. Bullets can be used to highlight lists.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract of up to 150 words is required. The abstract should give a clear idea of the line of reasoning in the paper and the main conclusions made. Mention the geographic location of the work if it is integral to the subject. The abstract should not include equations, diagrams, footnotes, or parenthetical references, but may include numbers. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s).Nonstandard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Key Words

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 10 key words in alphabetical order. Consider standard words or terms that describe your methodology, empirical investigation, and conclusions. Use  American English spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, “and,” “of”). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field should be used. If a common abbreviation or synonym is used, please include this in addition to the standard word(s). These key words are critical for indexing purposes.

Introduction and Literature Review

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, including a brief review of the relevant iterature. Address previous work of others related to the topic, particularly their approach and results. This section should explain why the topic of the research is important, providing adequate background in order to set the stage for the remainder of the paper.

Applied Research Methods

This section describes the methods used to conduct the applied research such as a survey, case study, interviews, focus groups, etc. Sufficient detail should be provided about specific techniques as well as the rationale for the use of particular methods. Highly technical methods with advanced statistical analysis should be avoided. As this is a journal for practitioners and applied researchers, authors should rely more on simple descriptive statistics, or perhaps discriminant or factor analysis, and ANOVA.

Results

Results should be clear and concise. How do the response rate and representativeness of the sample coincide with expectations? What are the key findings of the research? Include tables, charts, and graphs that aid in displaying and explaining the results.

Discussion

This section should explore the significance of the results of the work. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Compare and contrast results with other research. What are the seminal findings? Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. Provide recommendations, prescriptions, and thoughtful insights and observations.

Conclusions

What can be concluded from this applied research? What is the significance of the findings to practioners and appied researchers? What remains to be explored, and what would the author(s) recommend for further research?

Acknowledgements

List here those individuals who provided help during the research and writing of the article. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references. Do not include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title, or otherwise.

Disclosures

Each author must disclose all relevant financial and other interests that might be construed as resulting in an actual, potential, or apparent conflict in his or her role as contributor to JAFSCD, regardless of amount or value.

Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc.

References

References should follow American Psychological Association (APA) style, including the parenthetical references (author, date) as well as the reference list. The reference list should be in alphabetical order by author name. If there are two articles by the same author, then the author's name is again written in full. This follows the APA style. If there are two or more articles by the same author, then they should be ordered according to year, with the most recent appearing first. If there are two or more articles with the same author and same year, then they should be ordered alphabetically by title, with the first article being 1998a, the second 1998b, and so on.

• Examples:
  Hilchey, D.H. (1997). Consumer acceptance of Local Food Marketing in Spain. European Food Digest, 15, 232-234.
  
  Hilchey, D.H. (1996a). How Geographic Indicators are Challenging the Food Industry Landscape. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 27(1), 1-10.
  
  Hilchey, D.H. (1996b). Foodsheds and Watersheds: The Melding of Concepts, the Blurring of Lines. Food Futures, 50(7), 85-88.

Title Page Required Information

Include a title page in the main manuscript.

Title

Be concise and informative with your title. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations where possible.

Author names and affiliations

Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate clearly how it should be listed. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the email address of each author.

Corresponding author

Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, and also postpublication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided, in addition to the email address and the complete postal address.

Present and permanent addresses

If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a “Present address” (or “Permanent address”) may be indicated as a footnote to that author’s name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Use superscript Arabic numerals for such footnotes.

References

Citations in the text

The APA style is the "author, date" format that immediately follows the citation in the text. References are not footnoted. Works with three or more authors are referred to with all names in the first mention, and then by the first author "et al." in subsequent citations. If the author's name is used in the text, the publication date alone is used in parentheses. Page numbers are included only when quoting the work or a very specific piece of data from the entire cited publication. See the examples below.

Examples:

1. The number of farmers’ markets in the United States tripled from 1,755 in 1994 to 5,274 in 2009 (USDA, 2009).
2. Porter (1985) defined competitive advantage as having the ability to deliver the same benefits as competitors but at a lower cost (cost advantage).
3. There is a broad literature on the benefits of farmers’ markets to vendors and their contributions to communities (see Lyson, Gillespies, Hilchey & Jones (1995), Hinrichs (2000, p. 301), and Govindasamy (2002)).

Footnotes

Footnotes are used to explain or expand upon something in the text. They should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. If your word processors builds footnotes into the text, you may use this feature. Do not include footnotes in the reference list.

Footnotes in tables and figures

Indicate any footnote in a table or figure with a superscript lowercase letter to distinguish it from the numbers used in the main content.

Tables

When preparing tables, use Word’s table feature if possible. If not, use tabs — not spaces — to align columns. Tables should be included in the main manuscript. They can be placed where they should appear, or can be placed in an appendix with their general location noted in the content.

Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.

Figures (graphs, maps, drawings, and photographs)

Electronic artwork: General points

• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial/Helvetica, Courier New, Times New Roman, and Symbol.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
• Submit each figure as a separate file, naming the file with the figure number and brief descriptive name.

File Formats

Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

• Graphics created in Microsoft Word (doc/docx), Excel (.xls/.xlsx) or PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx): If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office programs, you must provide the original, editable files.
• EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as “graphics.”
• TIFF: color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
• TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
• TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.

Please do not:

• Embed graphics in your document;
• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (such as GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low for printing;
• Supply any graphics copied from a website, as the resolution will be too low; or
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color artwork

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or Microsoft Office files) and with the correct resolution.

Please note: Because of technical complications that can arise by converting color images to gray scale, please submit black and white versions of all color images.

Figure captions

Supply a caption for each illustration in your main manuscript in the location where the illustration should be placed. Do not embed the caption in the figure itself. A caption should include a brief title and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum, but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Final Considerations

• Has manuscript spelling has been checked?
• Are references are in the correct format for this journal (APA)?
• Are all references mentioned in the Reference section cited in the text, and vice versa?
• Have permissions been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)?

When uploading your manuscript in Fast Track, make sure that the following items are included:

• Manuscript file (in Microsoft Word or RTF format), with figure titles/captions in the body of the manuscript where the figures should appear.
• All illustrations in their original file format (Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) as well as saved in a common file format (PNG, JPG, etc.) for placement in the manuscript.
• Any additional, supplemental files as appropriate.

For further details, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .